I am always on the look out for more free roaming cats. The easiest way to do this is to look for cat paw prints after it snows outside. Cats seem to have specific routes they all use and I wanted to see if I could figure out any new hangouts that would make a good location for future trapping. Along the way, I came up with a series of photos that I call Paw Print Portraits.

The Feral Friends Network is managed fittingly by, ahem, Rebecca Katz. Ms. Katz called me to introduce herself and to talk about the cats in my area. She then sent me some of their educational materials to assist in providing general knowledge on Trap-Neuter-Return, TNR, referrals for spay and neuter services, and other ways to help feral and stray cat colonies. I especially love the “I Love Feral Cats” magnet.

If you do not want to feed the other wildlife, set up a feeding schedule for your feral cat colonies. Cats will acclimate very quickly to your schedule, and it also makes it easier to trap them in the future for TNR.

In my case, I live right off the Bloomingdale Trail and Humboldt Park, so there is all kinds of wildlife around. I don’t want raccoons in my yard, though, because the cat food is not really good for them, and if they do get into a fight with one of the cats, the raccoon will always win. Thankfully the cats seem to disappear whenever one appears.

I was surprised to see this one because they normally visit my yard only in the summer because of my garden. They especially love the grapes that run along the entire length of one of my fences. They’re like monkeys hanging out in trees, so we added appropriate monkey music made by my alter-ego, Vansassa.

I’m not sure if the James’ Gang Colony is actually protesting anything. But they are definitely, and deliberately, ignoring me here. Dice and Funny Face, the boys on the roof, like to keep an eye on their escape route, while Bouncy Bear snuggles inside and keeps a close watch on their feral cat feeding station.

Kriser’s gave another cat food donation to our pet food pantry this week to help feed the colony cats. This time it was cans of wet food from California Natural. If possible, colony cats should be fed wet food in the winter to help them bulk up on protein while staying hydrated. The James’ Gang Colony has gotten canned food all winter, but they really seemed to enjoy this particular brand. They quickly ran to the plate as soon as I put it out, forming what looked a little TNR’d Troika around the plate. Normally they do not all eat together in a group, but this brand was too enticing for them to wait and take turns.

We interrupt this revolution for nom nom noms.

They resorted back to silent protest when I told them that this food was to be shared with other colonies, yet again refusing to leave my yard. They have not figured out it’s hard for me to take these protests seriously when they do it all the time. But at least they’re consistent.

Also, when I picked up the cat food, a Kriser’s employee expressed interest in adopting a stray cat. I am hoping to put her in touch with my neighbors who are currently fostering Domino. Amazing.

Thank you again, Kriser’s, for helping us care for the outdoor stray and feral cats!

February is designated Spay/Neuter Awareness Month, with World Spay Day recognized on February 26.

World Spay Day promotes the message that by spaying or neutering your pet, by supporting spay/neuter efforts in the United States and abroad, and by informing others of the importance of spay/neuter, you become an important part of the solution.

Thank you for participating in the BTC4A World Spay Day Blog Hop and for spreading the word about the importance of spay/neuter. With millions of homeless dogs and cats enter the sheltering system every year, low cost spay/neuter programs provide the most cost effective means of preventing unwanted pregnancies in shelter animals. It’s a shame for even one healthy animal to be put down due to lack of a forever home.

Last week I was talking to one of my favorite feral cat bloggers, Chicago Feral Cat Files, about feral cats who need extra recovery time after their TNR surgeries because they have other medical issues going on. Normally male feral cats can be returned outside after their surgery within 24 hours, and female cats can be returned after 48 hours. If a cat is recovering from a wound or a URI, however, and require antibiotics, their recovery time is obviously longer. In these cases we were brainstorming on how to keep the cats more comfortable.

Ideally cats that require more recovery time should be transferred into a larger cage so that they have room to stretch, eat, sleep and use a litterbox comfortably. I need to do some more research on these cages, but there are good options out there. One thing that I try to do for these cats is to line the trap with a puppy pad. The pads are more absorbent and comfortable for the cats to sit on rather than just newspaper, but they should only be used for cats that remain calm. Some cats like to shred and chew on everything in the trap, in which case the puppy pad is not a good idea.

Boo was TNR’d at PAWS Chicago in 2009. Her photo is also featured on PAWS Chicago’s Trap Neuter Return site. Boo turned out to be a pregnant female, which was so surprising to me as I rarely trap females from my yard, and she was so tiny. I named her Boo after seeing her for the first time the previous week looking out at me from inside my open basement door. I was outside gardening with the door open for hours. At some point she came into my house without me seeing her. When I did see her in the doorway, she bolted, and I did not see her again until I trapped her a week later late at night.

I recovered Boo in the trap for a few extra days with the puppy pads and she was good to go. Because she was so tiny, the trap did not seem that small for her. How do you keep the feral cats from your colony comfortable during their recovery time after TNR?

I found another cat that visit colonies across a major street. Last fall I saw Star visiting the Eleanor Rigby Colony.

I see cats and cat ladies. Where’s the food?

I tried trapping him but ended up trapping Gracie and Blackie again instead. I took the girls to get checked out at the clinic and re-vaccinated because it had been three years since they were first TNR’d.

The Eleanor Rigby Colony cats were not pleased when Star showed up. So he only came around once in awhile.

Who dat cat?

Star would not let me near him because he was freaked out by the other colony cats, but he definitely wanted food.